EASY TOOLS FOR GETTING BETTER RESULTS

How many meetings have you attended where at the end you thought, “What was all that about? What a waste of time!”.  Alternatively, how many times have you asked someone to do something, only for them to under-deliver or had conversations that led nowhere?  We waste so much time because we don’t set intentions. By setting clear goals, we achieve far more making our lives far more fulfilling.  Here are some ways to get more out of your time:

• Set your intention for the day – When you are clear about what you want to achieve for the day, whether that be activities to complete or how you want to feel, you will be less likely to be at the mercy of other people or your emotions.
• Meetings – Before each meeting, set clear expectations regarding the outcomes you expect and communicate them to the attendees.  Everyone will then understand what the meeting is about, their role and results required.  If you do this for all of your meetings you’ll find that they are much quicker (as you will be less likely to go off track), and far more productive.
• If you’re planning a conversation (especially if you know it will be a difficult one), be clear about the outcome you expect.  That way, you’ll be less likely to go off track with both you and the other person thinking, ‘What was all that about?’ at the end.
• When sending an email, again, set your intention – Do you require the other person to act or are you only passing on information?  Be clear on what you’re asking for and what your expectations are, and you’ll get much better results.

Focus on setting clear intentions both for the day and for any interactions (meetings, conversations and emails) for the next couple of days and see how much more you manage to achieve.